5 tips to help you start your day feeling refreshed

The start of the week can be stressful for many. Between returning to work and trying to accomplish all you have to do during the day, the stress and anxiety of it all can catch up to us when we least expect it.

If you feel anxious, you might be asking yourself 'how do I cope?' First, it is important to understand what anxiety is before we learn how to cope with it. There are three parts to anxiety: 

1. Physical symptoms

This can be your heart racing, rapid breathing, sweating, nausea, feeling dizzy, tightness in your chest, or a tightening of your muscles. 

2. Thoughts  

This typically involves a fear of something bad happening in the future. 

3. Behaviours

Anxiety makes our body feel like it is in danger, so you may feel an urge to leave the situation or avoid anything that may make you feel anxious.

It is important for you to know that anxiety is very common, and you are not alone in how you are feeling. Anxiety may make you feel uncomfortable, but it isn’t going to harm you, it doesn’t last forever, and may lessen over time.

Once we better understand anxiety and learn how to recognize it, we can learn how to help you cope with it.

5 tips to help you cope with anxiety

1. Try calm breathing

If you are starting to feel your anxiety increasing, try slowing down your breathing. This will help you lower your heart rate and reduce some of the physical symptoms of anxiety. You can do this by breathing through your nose for 4 seconds, holding in your breath for 2-4 seconds, and then slowly exhaling through your mouth for 4 seconds. Wait a few seconds and repeat this for about 6-8 times. 

2. Progressive muscle relaxation

When we are anxious, we typically start to tense our muscles without realizing it. Progressive muscle relaxation helps our brain recognize when our muscles are tense and teaches us how to relax them. To do this, either sit in a chair or lie on your back and take five slow, deep breaths. Start by tensing up your feet for about 5 seconds as you take a slow, deep breath in. Then, as you exhale, let all the tension in your feet go. Stay relaxed for about 15 seconds and then move on to your calves. Continue to repeat this process through your legs, stomach, chest, neck and shoulders, hands, arms, all the way up to your eyes and forehead. It is important to practice this technique often so you can easily use it when you are feeling anxious! 

3. Keep active

During the colder months, it can be more difficult for us to get enough exercise. Since the new year can feel overwhelming, our workout resolutions tend to be one of the first things that get kicked to the curb. Exercise is an amazing stress reliever, so it is important to fit it into your schedule, even if it is a simple walk around the neighbourhood.

If you're running out of ideas about what you can do as the weather gets colder, check out this blog about 8 fun activities that can help you stay active during the winter.

4. Don’t overbook yourself

It is important to make sure you fit in time to do things you enjoy (e.g., baking, reading, going for walks). Don’t feel bad about saying no to something if you feel you need time for yourself.  

5. Classify your worries

If you are feeling overwhelmed, try writing down all of your worries and group them into ones you can control and ones you cannot. Then focus your energy on the ones that you can control and make a plan on how you will address them. 

If you feel like you need support, please reach out. Check our locations page to find a clinic near you or book online to schedule an appointment.

This blog was written by Madison Rosenau, an Occupational Therapy student at McMaster University.